The borderlands of Korea’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) will take on a different role this fall, as a new festival invites visitors to experience the region through nature, local life and reflection rather than its history of division. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday that it will hold the inaugural DMZ Peace Festa with the Korea Tourism Organization, Incheon’s Ganghwa County and Gangwon Province’s Cheorwon County. The festival will begin in Ganghwa County on Saturday, Sept. 12, and continue in Cheorwon County on Saturday, Sept. 26, with programs running through the following Sundays. Organizers said the festival is designed to connect tourism resources that have largely been developed separately by local governments along the DMZ. In Ganghwa, programs under the theme “Walking peace on an island where time stands still” will include sunrise meditation and yoga, a walk along the DMZ fence to collect sounds from nature, and a nonalcoholic cocktail-making class inspired by the lives of displaced residents. Ganghwa will also designate September as a DMZ Visit Mont